Worthless
Chapter 7
Test of Courage
As the Light Warriors took a joy ride around the world in their new-old
Airship, they passed over a group of islands that they could not have
reached without the use of the Airship. These were the Cardian Islands,
where the Dragon King Bahamut lived. Looking around the islands, they found
some useless treasure before they finally found a very long, regally
decorated hall, Bahamut's throne room. Squinting, the Four could see some
elaborate candelabras and a big yellow dragon with a large crown on his
head. Clearly Bahamut.
The Four proceeded forward to meet him. He challenged them to a test of
courage: retrieve a symbol of courage from the Castle of Ordeals. So they
left for the castle in the Airship. Passing over it, however, they found
that they would not be able to land very close in the Airship. However, if
they took their ship and their canoe, they could navigate the waterways and
eventually reach the castle. So they did, fighting the Hydras and Ochos that
came along the way. Eventually they reached it.
Upon reaching the entrance hall, a voice told them that they needed the
Crown to proceed. They had had it for quite some time, so they passed
through. The castle proved to be a confusing network of teleportation
pillars of some sort. It was a long set of trial and error, and fighting
many strong enemies along the way. Then eventually Maim discovered that if
they took the farthest-south option of teleportation, then they could pass
almost fail-safe. Eventually they reached the throne, where there were two
treasure chests. One held a Zeus Gauntlet, which Burn equipped. It raised
his defense substantially.
The other chest was not to be reached without a fight. Upon stepping before
it, they fought a Zombie Dragon. A couple hits of a Fasted Red and a shot or
two of Fire3 and Harm3 finished the battle with little difficulty. When they
opened the chest, they found...
"A rat's tail," Maim said, dangling it from his fingers.
"You know," Burn said, "we haven't found much else in this castle. This is
probably a symbol of our courage." Red looked at him in a weird way, as if
to say, 'You're ****ing kidding me.' "Yes, I'm skeptical about it too. It's
our only shot though." The Four stepped on the throne and were teleported
outside. They sailed back to Crescent Island, took the Airship, and flew to
Bahamut. It worked.
Bahamut's reward was the greatest honor that could be bestowed upon the
warriors. It seemed as though they had gotten five years older in an instant
and grown 6 inches. Red's long, spiky locks fell away onto the cavern floor,
and he got an impressive set of abdominal muscles that could easily pass for
a chick magnet...
...until they saw Burn. He had floor-length white hair, a more-developed
face, and broader shoulders. His cape even improved; now it was black on the
inside, and red on the outside.
Silk became truly stunning. She threw her hood back and revealed long red
hair that fell down to her waist. The red triangle pattern on the outsides
of her robes became more clearly visible.
Maim finally revealed his face; he was a sunken-faced and somewhat handsome
man with a great tan and hair that was light brown, only somewhat darker
than his skin.
"Okay, who's up for kicking a little fiend rear?" Red said rousingly, as if
in a pep talk. The now-empowered Light Warriors set out for their next
destination, Gurgu Volcano.